Besides other applications for oxidizers such as NF.sub.3 and F.sub.2, a use has been as oxidizers in chemical lasers energized from solid gas generators. As typical of such operations, a charge to the solid gas generator is primarily a salt of NF.sub.4 with a non-metal fluoride compounded with a binder, a solid fuel and a scavenger. The binder holds the composition together while the fuel reacts with a part of the NF.sub.4 salt releasing enough heat to cause the remainder of the salt to decompose to NF.sub.3, F.sub.2 and N.sub.2. The scavenger reacts with a non-metal fluoride to prevent its volatization. Typical of the salts currently used are NF.sub.4 SbF.sub.6, and NF.sub.4 BF.sub.4 with the latter most commonly used.
The yield of oxidizers from current NF.sub.4 salts is not great on a unit weight basis. This reduces the utility of supply oxidizer systems in their capacity to introduce in a unit weight charge an effective net weight of oxidizer. The best available material, NF.sub.4 BF.sub.4, has a maximum theoretical yield of 53.7 percent by weight F.sub.2 based on the weight of NF.sub.4 BF.sub.4 by the following calculation: ##EQU1##
Maximum w/w yield 95.div.177.times.100=53.7%
If one mole of sodium fluoride is used as a scavenger, conversion drops to 43.4 percent by weight by weight basis.
A need therefore exists to provide sources of fluorine oxidizers which have a higher fluorine yield than existing salts.